After decades of manufacturing decline in Maryland, signs of a turnaround

Buzzes, drones and hisses pulse through the air at NRL & Associates, a precision machine shop that makes parts and prototypes and assemblies for clients in a small business park just across the Bay Bridge.

But when Rich Coursey walks the floor of his growing business, he hears more than machines cutting aluminum or the rumble of a piece getting finished.

"You want to know what we say?" he asked. "We say, 'That's the sound of money.'"

His isn't the only manufacturing company in Maryland adding jobs.The sector grew faster than any other sector in the state in 2016. It was the first time since at least 1990 that manufacturing employment increased two years in a row.

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